By Della V. Whipple.
The newest way for marking handkerchiefs is one's own writing transferred with carbon, then worked in a very narrow satin stitch, with a decided slant to the stitches. The accompanying monogram is a pretty and practical one. Embroider the single lines same as described above, fill in the broad portions with perpendicular stitches, piling high, and cover with satin stitch same slant as the lines. Make the dots in French knots. If one is partial to French knots a good way is to outline all of the lines of letters, using Kensington outline stitch and fill in the broad parts with the knots.
The initial letters shown on the opposite page were drawn for 1898 Corticelli Home Needlework by a St. Louis artist. They are specially adapted to the purpose for which they are intended and are very pretty when worked according to the following instructions.
All letters look best if given a raised effect. To do this stuff the space between the lines with Corticelli Roman Floss, after the manner of working jewels (see page 62), taking care to have the stitches of the filling laid in the opposite direction to that which the covering stitches will take. With two threads of Corticelli Filo Silk cover the stuffing in satin stitch. Color 615, White, is usually used, although some prefer Cream White, 616, or Cream, 616.5. The Roman Floss used for stuffing should be of the same shade as the Filo Silk. A pretty way for making very small letters is to just follow the outline with small cross stitches.
Marking Clothing.
While the neatest way to mark clothing is by one's initials embroidered in Corticelli Filo Silk, as above suggested, this is not practical for many articles. Tablecloths, napkins, sheets, pillow cases, white spreads, towels, shirts, collars, and cuffs, also, must be plainly marked for convenience in sorting and identifying personal articles in the family wash and to avoid being lost when entrusted to public laundries. For this nothing is better than Payson's Indelible Ink. With a bottle of this ink and a common pen one can easily mark all necessary articles. A good idea is to keep on hand a few yards of linen tape, on which your name is written many times with this ink. Cut the tape as wanted and sew on to stockings, or other articles having too rough a surface for pen work.
